19

Jul 2008

Healthy Eating = Bad Taste?

When it comes to eating healthy food, most people are concerned with how things will taste. I've read numerous books and articles on the subject and they all claim that you don't have to sacrifice flavor. I'm here to tell you that that is a crock. You WILL have to sacrifice flavor. Nothing tastes better than: CHOCOLATE, ice cream, sour cream, butter, cheese, pizza, French fries, etc. I'm sorry to break the news to you but that's the truth. But before you run away, let me tell you the good news. Over time, some of these ingredients or foods can be replaced and your taste buds won't know the difference.

19

Jul 2008

My Designated Driver

There comes a time when you've read all of the books you can read, you scoured every article in every forum, and you've essentially exhausted all of avenues of knowledge available to you. So after 10 years of self-training, I'd finally gone as far as I could by myself. Or as I like to put it, I've reached my own level of incompetence. When I arrived at this point, the decision to hire a coach was easy.

19

Jul 2008

World's Tougest Wife

My wife also did the race this past weekend. Here are her thoughts of the events as they unfolded...

There's nothing like fear of not getting a good parking space to get you moving at 4:30 in the morning. The day before's antics are forgotten, the bike ride to get to race start was uneventful and I got a decent transition spot. Of course it would have helped if I had given my correct race number when I went to body marking, but the nice gentlemen and his magic sharpie pen managed to correct my error.

19

Jul 2008

World's Toughest Half Ironman

Somebody thought it would be a good idea to put the World's Toughest Half Ironman on my schedule at the end of Build2, Week3. All of my previous races have fallen at the end of a recovery week which has allowed me to race fresh. But not this one...

19

Jul 2008

Anyone Can Do An Ironman

In my last entry, I made the statement "Anyone can do an Ironman." Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters have become an Ironman and you can too.

It's easy to say you're going to do an Ironman but the time it takes to train impacts your life. You get up early in the morning, you skip lunch for training, you leave work early in the afternoon, and you fit in sessions right before you go to bed. In the heavier weeks, a standard plan will have you training for 20 hours. If you're like me, finding 20 hours is like finding a million dollars. But if you're committed to it, you'll find the time. And while we're on the subject of commitment, you might want to let your family & friends know you'll be unavailable for the next 9 months.

The training consists of not only physical challenges but mental challenges as well. And while your body will adapt to the physical quickly, the mental aspect is something that takes time. It really helps to have your family and friends on board to support you through the entire process.

While you're training, you might sometimes forget WHY you are training in the first place. It just becomes second nature to get up, train, go to work, train, come home, train, go to bed only to wake up the next day and start over. I am reminded of the guy in the Dunkin' Donuts commercial..." time to make the donuts..." I won't go too much into the mental stuff since I've written about it previously. I'll just say you need to keep your mind motivated.

I know, you're thinking shut up already and get to the part about training.

Training options:

Option #1 - Hire a coach. The easiest way to find a coach is through the USAT Coach Directory. Prices vary but you can expect to pay around $200 for basic coaching which will include phone conversations, email correspondence, and a detailed plan for your season.

If this is the route you choose, I would definitely interview several candidates to determine which personality type fits yours best. You will be working closely with this person for at least six months. It would be better if you liked them.

Option #2 - An Internet Training Plan. There are two that have been used by a number of people with success. And the best part is both are free.

The above plans pretty much speak for themselves. The only thing I'd add is try not to modify them too much. For example, don't take all of the easy workouts and make them hard because you think you will go faster. You won't, and you might just injure yourself instead. Consistency is the key to a successful finish and injuring yourself will not allow you to be consistent. Follow the plan! If you want to get faster, do it again next year. Odds are you'll get faster just from the experience of having already done one.

While there are a number of directions I could go from here, I don't want to write a book as there are a number which have already been written. And since we're talking about books, if you haven't done so already, I think you should pick up a copy of "Going Long" by Joe Friel and Gordon Byrn. This book has important information on how and why you train they way you do. It discusses the journey, each of the disciplines, the mental and physical demands, periodization, nutrition, equipment and many other topics which arm you'll with the knowledge you need to better prepare for your journey. Good luck!